Listed: Book One of The Listed Trilogy

Chapter Fourteen

Cells 

"Harper, what are you doing here?" I ask, running into her arms.

"Ath, I never thought I'd see you again." she says raspily, looking down at me.

"What did they do to you?" I ask, tears forming in my eyes.

"They brought me here, and after I healed from the fight with Mae, they began to torture me for answers." she explains, and lets me go.

"Answers about what?" I ask. She avoids my gaze, and lets go of my shoulders.

"You." she whispers. I take a step back.

"What? What did they need to know?" I ask astoundedly.

"They wanted to know about you, how observant you were, how strong you were, when I was living with you. They also asked questions about..." she trails off, and turns her head away.

"Who? About who?" I ask.

"Mom and dad." she whispers. My eyes widen.

"Tell me what I need to know about mom and dad." I say. She shakes her head.

"They're watching us in here, they have cameras and recorders, so they can hear what we're saying and see what we're doing." she says nervously, jerking her head around the room maniacally.

 "Tell me, I don't care if they can see!" I tell her, desperate for answers about my past. She sighs, then looks me in the eyes.

"Dad told me the truth about the government, which is why I hated the day you turned eleven. They killed dad for telling me, and they've had me under survelliance ever since. Mom's death was because he knew everything about the unknown country, because she lived there until she was sixteen. She moved here as a spy for Canada, and when the government found out, they killed her." Harper explains. My eyes widen. Mom was from Canada?

"What was mom's name again?" I ask.

"Juliana, why?" she asks.

I lean in and whisper into her ear in a low voice, "I think I have an idea."

I wake up in a metal chair, and a bright light is shining down on me. A gray metal chair is front of me, and the entire room is made out of cement.I try  to stand up, but I can't. I look down, and see metal restraints around my wrists and ankles. I groan, when the door opens.

"Hello, Athena." I hear the voice of George, the Head of Government.

"George." I return. He turns, closes the door, and then I hear a lock click. He walks over to the table, and sits down across from me.

"Athena, did I ever tell you the entirety of your abilities?" he asks. I shake my head, nervousness building inside of me. "Well, when you were young, your sister found out the truth, as you know." he says. I nod, and he continues. "As a punishment, we killed your father, and your mother died for her wrongdoing. But we needed to make sure Harper never told you, no matter what. We came up with a simple solution, to eventually List you. But we couldn't List you, because you were a weakling with no intellectual ability. People would've known something was wrong." he says, clasping his hands.

"So, what are you saying?" I ask. He smiles.

"We took you, Athena, to a government laboratory. We changed your cells, so that your brain would perform faster and better than the average human, we changed the cells in your muscles so that they would be stronger and could absorb blows. You would surely be Listed, you're better than any other child here." he says.